Coming Unstuck

As you know, I'm working on a re-write/re-draft/general page shuffle of my Shadowbinder novel. I made good progress throughout the April Camp NaNoWriMo dash but since then my writing progress has faltered. Faltered is an understatement. My writing progress has tripped, skidded, demolished a fence and thrown its rider (me) into a thorny hedge.

I'm working on a new chapter. It isn't the first new chapter I've written this time around so I'm unsure why I'm having so much trouble. I have this image for inspiration.


I walk past this archway at least once a fortnight and photographed it last time I passed. It always strikes me as a little odd, hovering between gardens as it does.

I know what I want to happen in my chapter. I've identified who the major players in this chapter are too. I know how it must end and how it will set Steve and his friends on a path. Why can't I get it down on paper?

So I've decided to fall back on a method I use when writing my plays, mapping out where each character is on the stage, their exits and entrances, figuring out where they need to be and which conversations must happen to progress the action. I'm hoping that getting the bare, physical bones of the chapter down on paper will kickstart my writing.

My target is still to have my novel finished and polished by late summer. Wish me luck.

Comments

  1. I've been there. Yesterday I had to temporarily abandon a chapter and jump to the ending of the book. I wrote that with no trouble. Today I'm hoping when I go back to that stubborn chapter I'll be able to tackle it.

    Good luck, Fi. I know you'll figure it out.

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    1. Thanks, Kelly. Glad it's not just me.

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  2. That's a pretty archway. If I had to pass under that every day, it would make me smile. :)

    Good luck with your re-writes!

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  3. I'm on my fourth major edit/rewrite of a novel-in-progrss. It's strange how some chapters come so easily and others clunk along, needing a tweak here, a push there, a shaking out all over. Eventually it does come together, but not without a lot of work. Hope your chapter is going better by now. Good to connect with SheWrite participants.

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    1. Thanks, Deborah. Hope your wip is going well too.

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  4. I've been doing the same as well. I'd get stuck with a chapter or scene too. And would just write the bare bones of dialogue, setting as in where the characters are in the room, etc. Everything else like scene description and notes, I highlight in red to get back to later. Good luck finishing your chapter and your work in progress.

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